Color-Code Your Closet

Is your closet a mishmash of hangers and dresses, shoes and ties? If so, putting your belongings in some type of order is probably necessary. After all, it does no good to have everything hanging neatly if you still can’t find what you’re looking for! There are many, many ways to organize your closet. Using color is a great way to bring some organization and even beauty into this storage space. Particularly for those who tend to process things visually, color-coding your closet can help you keep everything in good order with a minimum of stress.

• First, organize by type of clothing. Before you organize by color, it’s usually best to separate your clothing by item type. For example, all of your dresses should go together; if you have a lot of them, then it might make sense to group the shorter ones separately from the longer ones. Put all of the shirts in one section, and all of the pants in another.
• Now figure out your color system. If you have clothing spanning every color of the rainbow, then you might choose to use the Roy G. Biv method. The acronym stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, and it will make your closet look like a rainbow when you’re done. Most of us, however, probably have clothing in a smaller handful of colors, most of which are neutrals, like black, gray and white. In this instance, you might choose to organize your neutrals in one area and your brights and pastels in another area of the closet. Do what makes the most sense for your particular situation.
• Color-code your hangers. Are you using plastic tubular hangers? These come in a wide variety of colors, and can be very useful when it comes to color coding your closet. You probably use this system frequently when shopping; some stores color-code their hangers to indicate sizes. If you are looking for a size 10, you don’t have to check every tag; you can simply look for the hangers with the blue hooks (or whatever color is assigned to your size). If you are currently between sizes, you could use this same method to determine what size something is without having to pull it out of your closet. You could also hang all of your work clothing on one color hanger and your out-on-the-town clothing on another. Take a look at your wardrobe as a whole and go from there.

Closet organization is largely a matter of doing what works for you. So consider various ideas, then look at what you have and make the decisions that make the most sense. The idea is to have your closet configured in such a way that you will be able to reach in and find what you need during the most hectic of mornings. This will help to reduce your stress and make your days run a bit more smoothly. Give it some thought, and you’ll be sure to find something that works for you!